Dear friends, let us open our release plan for 2025, with the first three months being devoted to no less than three new titles of metal literature. In January, we are about to unleash the Czech translation of the book entitled “USBM: Revolution of Identity in American Black Metal”, penned by Daniel Lake, a longtime contributor to the iconic Decibel Magazine.

Though it may not seem so at first, black metal in America has a tradition that goes back already to the so-called first wave in the 1980s, when the genre across the pond was picked up in by Blasphemy in Canada, in South America by Vulcano or Sarcófago. The United States joined at the turn of 80s and 90s, when VON picked up the mantle, hence kicking off what gradually became a distinct scene that still has its rightful place on the map of the global black metal movement. And it is its story that Daniel Lake decided to cover – from VON and other pioneers such as Absu, Profanatica or Krieg, all the way to the post-black bands of the 2000s such as Bosse-de-Nage, Mamaleek or Deafheaven.

Out January 20 in hardcover! As usual, our edition will be in Czech only. The English original is available via its publisher Decibel.

Of course, there will be a closer look at “USBM” in our usual release coverage, so stay tuned.

So, enjoy and more next time!